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Harvest Daily with Greg Laurie - Dec. 29, 2005

“Let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with endurance the race that God has set before us.” --Hebrews 12:1

I am the kind of a person who likes to drag a lot of stuff with me when I travel. I have been traveling for many years, yet I still overpack. I want to bring everything I own. But excess baggage makes traveling more complicated.

In the same way, when you are running the race of life, you need to run light. Sometimes we drag along a lot of excess weight. But notice that the Bible tells us to “strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress.” Sin is sin, and there are certain non-negotiables to which we must hold fast. Then there might be something that is a weight in your life that may not necessarily be a weight in another’s life. By that I mean, there may be something you are doing that is impeding your spiritual progress. Periodically, I need to take stock of my life as a Christian and look at the things I am doing with my time. I need to ask myself the question, “Is it a wing or a weight? Is it speeding me on my way spiritually, or is it slowing me down? Is it increasing my spiritual appetite, or is it dulling it?”

How often we are so busy doing a lot of things that aren’t really all that important, but they seem important at the time. We need to ask ourselves if we need to do all of those things. Are they slowing you down? Lay aside the weight and the sin that hinders your progress.